I’m a bit disappointed. Jotspot was great. Google’s replacement for it, Google Sites, is not so hot. Here’s why I think so.
Jotspot was more than a wiki. It was a platform on which developers could build applications. For example, the Jotspot site we use has a blog, an app called a ‘bug reporter’, a discussion forum, a ‘knowledge base’ app and a project management tool. There were many other apps you could choose to add. I was hoping that Google Sites would continue to deliver this great functionality. Sadly, it does not.
At it’s most basic level, when you created a page in Jotspot you were given a choice of Web Page (basic wiki page), Spreadsheet, Calendar, Blog, File Cabinet and Photo Album.
Google gives you less. When you create a page in Google Sites you have a choice of Web Page (wiki page), Dashboard, Announcements, File Cabinet and Lists.
The Web Page is pretty much the same as the old Jotspot with a slightly improved wysiwyg editor. The dashboard is quite fun, I guess. You can use it to show your Google Calendar, Google Docs/Spreadsheets, Picasa slideshow, and other widgets.
But there are two important omissions:
1. You can no longer email content to a wiki page. Each Jotspot page had an email address allowing users to email updates to wiki pages or to email attachments to pages. We found that really useful. Especially for the less tech-savvy among our staff.
2. Spreadsheets are no longer integrated into the site. You need to link to them from Google Docs and drop them into the dashboard widget placeholder or onto a new page. And, I have to say, I couldn’t get this to work in Google Sites.
Here’s more opinion, from a loyal Jostpot user and from a reporter
One good thing is the consolidated email login through Google Apps Team edition. That is a great idea.
So why the title? Googlestein’s Monter? Because you have to cobble together all the functions you need. Like Frankenstein’s monster, there are lots of great bits, but they don’t fit together very well. There’s just no clear integration of the Google apps suite. You have to switch between your Startpage (another kind of dashboard), Google Calendar, Google Docs and Spreadsheets and Google sites. You need to plug widgets into pages to get stuff like the calendar to work. And the blog, well, that’s not there at all.
I hate to say it, but Sharepoint just got a whole lot more attractive.
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